How To Whiten Teeth With Baking Soda

Hi! I'm Brian Halvorsen and I'm a dentist. I've been in practice for over thirty five years and I've written a book about my principles on holistic dentistry. The book is called Great Teeth for Life.

In this video, I'm going to discuss tooth whitening. Tooth whitening is a safe procedure, and it's non-invasive. It is extremely popular in North America and in Europe.

The principles behind tooth whitening actually are that the outside of the tooth does not actually create the whitening effect. It's actually the internal structure, i.e.

, the dentin, which actually soaks up the gel which is normally a diluted version of a peroxide, just like you'd use for bleaching, but a safe one. Now, tooth whitening which actually whitens the tooth from the inside is a permanent whitening. It's not about, you know, you have to keep doing it.

Although, often, because of time and tide, you do need to actually reinforce the whitening about every two or three months. There are various types of tooth whitening, some that you can actually purchase in the high street or in the mall and these are effective but not as effective as if you were to visit your dentist and have it done in a professional way. Now, there was sometimes confusion between whitening with what the dentist will do using trays and the gel and whitening toothpastes.

Now, most of these toothpastes will not actually physically whiten the internal structure of the tooth. However, they will be very effective at removing the surface stain, and this in itself will make the tooth look a lot brighter. But it is only superficial, because the enamel layer of the tooth is virtually transparent.

So, all you're actually doing is just cleaning that, sort of, surface layer; call it like cleaning a windscreen. But, it can make a huge difference and there are some now very, very effective toothpastes which actually will brighten your teeth, but not internally. Using things like bicarbonate or some of the other products that are advertised I think are really, frankly, much over-much.

And so, but if it suits yourself as an individual then, you know, use what you've either been recommended or you find effective for yourself. So, that's just a few tips on tooth whitening. .